Origin

Ugh. Hebron, that was incredible. That’s gonna be difficult to beat. No words. (watching on the stream btw)

I just saw that video too lol. Hebron never fails to amaze me. To me it feels closest to their 2018 show, but with a bit clearer of a visual design. I imagine this show ends up cleaner than the 2018 one did. Also, the guard has gotten so much better in the past few years. I kindof agree with what someone said about the music not going with the visual theme, but it’s so good I can’t complain.

Hebron, Flower Mound, Marcus, Coppell, and Waxahachie had seasons last year that made it to state finals, so I’m interested to see if that’ll provide a noticeable advantage relative to bands like LD Bell, Keller, etc. that didn’t have normal seasons.

Ruthless ?

I knew Flower Mound wasn’t attending, but no LD Bell?

Yes, that was so sad! I’m glad that they removed themself from the field instead of trying to keep going. That fall looked like it hurt!

There’s a stream from the Wylie band contest where you can see Flower Mound’s show. There is already SO MUCH personality baked into this show. Such commitment to creativity! The guard will be giving TWHS a run for their money (okay maybe not, I’m not a guard expert, but they’re really really good.) The pacing of the show so far was interesting and I’m not sure I’m in love with the field setup, but this is a fantastic show imo.

Keller in 5th and slipping behind (at least) Prosper after prelims is definitely a bit of a shock, but they had less on the field than maybe any of the other finalists and had electronic issues. It’ll be interesting to see the prelims scores. Congrats to Marcus on a full sweep, very very deserved!

LD Bell’s show is very in-line with what they’ve offered these past few years. The guard is much larger than I thought they would be, and they’re doing a great job. Just comparing them to some of the finalist bands, there are some full band moments that need some cleaning and balancing, but they have a good show to work with. (Posted in the right thread now lol)

I seemed like Keller’s electronics weren’t working, at least definitely not at the beginning. Anyway, it was still a great performance! So many great music moments and the guard was really solid. Like Timber Creek, they only had around 5 minutes, so I’m excited to see more!

Marcus gave an undeniable performance. They are already executing their show at such a high level that I’m a bit worried that they could peak early since they are attending nats. I don’t know if this show is going to have that immediate emotional audience connection from a design standpoint that their ‘17 and ‘19 productions had, but it’s still a great show. Carroll impressed me! They really have gotten so much better in the past few years. After going after Marcus and Prosper, it’s apparent that they have cleaning to do musically, but the show has great scale and potential to go far this season. Beautiful flute soloist!!

After their staff changes in 2019, I wasn’t sure how Timber Creek was gonna fare after 2020, but that was a great performance!! They didn’t have a whole lot of their show on the field, but it was super solid from everyone involved. The saxophone feature was awesome, the guard was really clean, and the theming was easy to follow.

Not surprisingly, Marcus sweeps all 6A awards.

Agreed. Marcus’ show was cleaner and felt more complete visually. I also think Marcus had more show on the field. Keller played some really interesting music! Great music GE imo. Visually there were some very challenging moments and I’m excited to see the visual design more fleshed out hopefully at BOA next week.

Actually, yes. LDBellBand on YouTube. The audio is not great.

The first band goes at 12 and the bad weather is supposed to clear out in the afternoon so hopefully it still happens ?

I haven’t seen or heard the show, only seen a picture of one of the props, and they were definitely not what I expected. I don’t really get how a show supposedly about art pertains to the “Pinstriped” title…I guess “pen” and “pin” sound the same…their uniforms are Pinstriped…idk ? i guess I’ll find out next week.

Marcus gave a very very clean performance, but for a grand nats year, I’m honestly pretty underwhelmed with the scale of the show so far. Marcus never has the craziest drill, but it felt easy even for them. Musically, it’s a treat. The guard does a lot of the visual heavy lifting and they do it extremely effectively. I know they’ve never been the biggest band, but they looked surprisingly small? Only 5 tubas? Flower Mound’s show has an interesting field setup, and is equally unorthodox in some of the music moments. I like FloMo’s more quirky shows, so I’m excited for this one.

The big fountain pens are…interesting

And the Keller vs. Southlake Carroll game Thursday ?

Video of Reagan out there from the NEISD fall band festival. It’s a great show, and the full show looks to be on the field. I was really excited to hear “Running Up That Hill” at the beginning. The audio is pretty bad because of the wind. I think they might be a bit behind where they were at this point in 2019 (especially in the guard) but that’s to be expected this year, plus their season is longer this year. The show feels like Secret World Part 2, but if it’s not broke, don’t fix it I guess. CTJ performed right after Reagan and I think CTJ has the edge right now, but for this competition, Reagan will dominate.

I get what Vista Ridge is going for: A futuristic show (hence the guard costumes, made up words show title, etc.) with audience appeal, but the Katy Perry feels like a design choice I would’ve seen in like 2015. I think the show has a high ceiling and will really transform like their show did in 2019.

In 2018 AND 2019, Keller finished .1 ahead of Marcus, so it’ll be interesting to see how things play out assuming both bands are still as awesome as usual. Edit: the weather is not looking too great ?

Lake Travis was .07 out of finals and Hendrickson was less than a point out. Such stiff competition!!

CTJ - Feels like it has some callbacks to past shows which is cool. The show isn’t the glorious mess it usually is at this point in the season, but there’s obviously still work to do to make it flow even better. There are some really really cool music moments in there that are gonna be just awesome come nats. The theme and visual design of the show is very on the nose which I don’t know how to feel about. Vandegrift - Just wow. The performance was so strong I’m kindof feeling a Vandy sweep tonight. Cedar Park - A very technically solid show. Impressive marching. Less bells and whistles than they normally have, but I actually think it helps focus on the talent of the performers. Cedar Ridge - I don’t remember hearing any of the “Superstition” electronics in prelims? Anyway, I was very entertained. Strong music and guard. Vista Ridge - Again, it’s an ambitious show. The drill at the beginning with the fast and slow movement intertwined highlights the difficulty of this show. A lot of moments just need cleaning, but they have plenty of time. They always surprise me in San Antonio with how polished they become.